Braving rain and stormy weather in various parts of Himachal Pradesh, a 19.26 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first two hours until 9 am in the third and final phase of Panchayat elections.
Polling, which began at 7 am, continued with strong turnout, with Sirmaur district recording the highest voter turnout at 23.60 per cent, while Lahaul and Spiti registered the lowest at 16.23 per cent. The voting has so far proceeded peacefully without any untoward incidents.
According to the State Election Commission, more than 15 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across 1,189 gram panchayats.
These elections are being conducted in the traditional manner using ballot papers and without party symbols. Voting will continue until 3 pm.
In the first phase held on May 26, a voter turnout of 78.90 per cent was recorded across 1,293 panchayats, while 79.88 per cent of voters cast their ballots in 1,276 panchayats during the second phase on May 28.
Approximately 10,854 office-bearers have already been elected unopposed.
As per officials of the State Election Department, results for gram panchayats, pradhans, and up-pradhans will be declared on Saturday, while those for panchayat samiti and zila parishad members will be announced on May 31.
More than 50 lakh voters will elect 31,182 representatives in the three-phase elections, including 3,754 pradhans, 3,754 up-pradhans, 21,654 ward members, 1,769 panchayat samiti members, and 251 zila parishad members.
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